LAST TIME: Broncos 17, Jets 13; Nov. 17, 2011. It was a very different time, and a very different Broncos offense. "Tebowmania" began to hit a fever pitch after Tim Tebow led the Broncos on a 12-play march in the final minutes to complete a rally from a 10-3 third-quarter deficit. It may have been the most unlikely touchdown drive in Broncos history, given the struggles that preceded it. For most of the night, Denver's offense floundered. From the second through fourth quarters, eight consecutive Broncos possessions ended in punts; the Broncos went three-and-out on seven of them. Only an Andre Goodman pick-six kept the Broncos alive. But with 5:54 remaining, the offense awoke. After gaining just 134 yards and averaging 3.0 yards per snap in the first 54:06, the offense gained 95 yards and averaged 7.9 yards per play on the march, which included six Tebow runs for 57 yards, including the 20-yard touchdown scamper with 58 seconds remaining. A last-gasp Jets drive fell short, and the Broncos squared their record at 5-5 with their third consecutive win of what would become a six-game streak.

LAST TIME IN EAST RUTHERFORD: Broncos 34, Jets 17; Nov. 30, 2008. In a cold, driving rain, the Broncos intercepted Jets quarterback Brett Favre once, sacked him twice and held him to a 60.9 quarterback rating in sprinting to a comfortable win. Denver struck first on a 23-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Vernon Fox and never trailed. The Jets tied the game at 7 when Thomas Jones galloped 59 yards for a score on the next scrimmage play after Fox's return, but the Broncos struck back on a 59-yard Jay Cutler-to-Eddie Royal strike 97 seconds later. Jones had 108 yards on 11 carries in the first half, but as the Broncos pulled away, the Jets abandoned the run, running six times and calling 33 pass plays after halftime. The win was the Broncos' third successive triumph away from Denver, but they would lose their next two road games in a late-season collapse.

NOTING THE GAME:

The biggest storyline for this game will likely revolve around Eric Decker facing his old team for the first time. Decker is one of eight wide receivers in Broncos history to record multiple 1,000-yard seasons in with the team. (The others are Lionel Taylor, Steve Watson, Anthony Miller, Rod Smith, Ed McCaffrey, Brandon Marshall and Demaryius Thomas.) Just two of them have faced the Broncos after leaving: Marshall, in 2011 with the Miami Dolphins, and Taylor, in 1967 with the Houston Oilers. Taylor's side won, and he scored on an 11-yard touchdown catch. Marshall's Dolphins lost; he was held to 61 yards on six receptions, without a score.

Home-field advantage has meant little in the series. The Broncos are 10-8 against the Jets in Denver and 7-7-1 against them in the New York metropolitan area. This will be their first meeting in MetLife Stadium, which the Broncos visited twice last year, defeating the Giants in Week 2 and losing Super Bowl XLVIII.

If Michael Vick earns the starting quarterback's job for the Jets, he'll start against the Broncos for the third time, but the first time away from Denver. He led Atlanta to a 41-28 win in 2004, and his Eagles of 2013 fell 52-20 last September.

The Broncos have enjoyed a run of dominance in the series, winning 10 of 13 games between the clubs from December 1967 to January 1999. Since then, the Broncos have won four of seven, including a 2-1 mark in New Jersey.

Since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970, the Jets have never made the playoffs after losing to the Broncos in the regular season. But in 1968, the Jets won Super Bowl III three months after the Lou Saban-led Broncos defeated them 21-13 at Shea Stadium.